Harness trace-chain



E. P. BELZ.

HARNESS TRACE CHAIN.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 29, I919.

1,346,439, Patented July 13, 1920. 1

UNITED STATES EDWARD PAUL BELZ, OF ATHENS, WISCONSIN.

HARNESS TRACE-CHAIN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 13, 1920.

Application filed May 29, 1919. Serial No. 300,780.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD PAUL BnLz, a citizen of the United States,residing at Athens, in the county of Marathon and State of lVisconsin,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Harness Trace- Chains, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to chains and particularly to those which areused for traces of draft animals, the said invention having for itsobject the provision of novel means whereby the links of the chain willpresent the relatively smooth surface to engage the sides of the draftanimal, so that chafing or injury to the animal will be avoided. Afurther object of the invention is to provide means whereby the chainswill afiord a yielding action to absorb shock or vibration due to unevenpulling conditions, thus making it possible to produce a metallic tracehaving yieldable characteristics, while at the same time it will possessstrength and durability and prove comparatively inexpensive to produce.

It is furthermore the purpose of the inventor to produce a chain havinglinks which can be assembled after the links are completed and makingthe chain so that the links may be increased or diminished according tothe requirements in practice, by having the links detachable, one fromthe other.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists inthe details of construction as well as in the arrangement andcombination of parts to be hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail, reference would be had to theaccompanying drawing illustrating the preferred embodiment of theinvention in which- Figure 1 illustrates a view in perspective of a linkembodying the invention.

Fig. 2 illustrates a side elevation of assembled links.

Fig. 3 illustrates a plan view of one of the links.

In these drawings I have shown the links as each comprising a member,preferably a steel wire, bent on itself to form the loop 5 and theshanks 6 and 7, the said shanks having overturned extremities 8 and 9respectively, whose ends are preferably welded to the shanks so as toform elongated eyes 10 and 11 respectively.

The loop portion 5, which in some instances is termed the bolt part ofthe link, 1s offset from the plane of the shanks and might be said tohave a lateral curve which terminates on the plane of the eyes of'theshanks so that when the links are assembled as shown in Fig. 2, thesides of the links offset the eyes and present flat surfaces which arethe inner sides of the chain when in use; in other words, the said innersides are those which are intended to bear against the sides of thedraft animal.

The elongated eyes 10 and 11 are preferably of such dimensions as topermit the insertion of the ends of the shank, one of which may bethreaded through the eyes to enable the loop of the link to span thespace between the two eyes.

The loop portions 5 of the links are oval and the shanks converge attheir ends so that when the links are in assembled relation to eachother, there is a relatively great yielding action or resiliency whichabsorbs shock, which otherwise would be occasioned by hard pulling orjerking.

The construction, operation and advantages will, it is thought, heunderstood from the foregoing description, and the said advantages will,is is thought, be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A chain trace compri ing interengaging links, each consisting of ametallic memher, with a loop open at one end, and converging shanks, thesaid shanks having elongated eyes, and the closed end of said loop beingshaped to lie out of the plane of the main portion thereof andterminating into alinement with said eyes.

9.. A harness chain comprising interengaging links, each of said linksconsisting of a strip of resilient metal, with'a loop open at one end,and shanks having overturned ends forming elongated eyes and the closedend of said loop being shaped to lie out of the plane of the mainportion thereof and terminating into alinement with said eyes, thelength of said eyes being greater than its width and overturned portionforming the eyes, whereby the end of one link may be inserted in the eyeof the contiguous link.

EDWVARD PAUL BELZ.

